Random Paleolithic Ponderings

I made this display a couple years ago for
use in my Stone Age Skills programs. Jeff Gottlieb of NY made the large
awl (I decorated it).

If you are fortunate enough to find some
native sulfur, throw some sparks on it using percussion fire-making. It
will light without any further assistance. Just don’t absent-mindedly
inhale the fumes as I did!

The torch is made of bamboo and a cattail
head. Note the well (partial internode) that the cattail sits in—it is
full of olive oil. I have subsequently used rendered bear fat
successfully (thanks Sue!).

I was teaching a Throwing Sticks class in
the Olympic Peninsula of WA. This girl had a great, focused stance!

I took these negative-image photos on the
western coast of the Olympic Peninsula of WA, near Wedding Rocks and the
Ozette (Makah Nation) Village archaeological site. These petroglyphs are
300-500 years old.

Since knapping damages my wrists, I’ve
taken to using quartz crystals, that I find, in a variety of ways—as
drill points, burins and bone/rock/shell scorers.

Speaking of fungi, this slab of Artist’s
Conk (Ganoderma applanatum) makes a great hearthboard for bow drill and
hand drill. In fact, this mushroom will work better than a lot of woods!
One of my most enjoyable hand drill experiences occurred while I was
using a 3.5-foot mullein spindle on this fungal hearthboard. I was
demonstrating the phenomenon in front of the Puget Sound Mycological
Society!

My favorite bow drill handhold. I picked
up this unaltered rock on the beaches of Pescadero, CA. It lasted
through a couple thousand (literally—see my Bow Drill article) ember
attempts and is the most useful, longest-lasting, most reliable tool
I’ve ever possessed. Even though I’ve given up bow drill in deference to
the in-every-way-possible superiority of the hand drill, I kept this
rock. I love it almost as much as I love Mr. Bunny…

In my quest to try everything, I have made
bow drill embers on rock. I picked up this rock the same day I found the
above-mentioned bow drill handhold. This rock belongs to the Tafoni
Geology Complex of the Monterey Formation. Scott Kuipers and I report
success using bone hearthboards, and there is ethnographic evidence of
Aleuts using ivory. Try everything. That is the only way we are going to
grow…

"A firestart was made from a large unworked
chunk of granite or other hard stone. It has a
pitted surface consisting of a series of small holes
1 to 2 inches in diameter by 5/32 to 1/2 inch
deep....Small chips of wood or wood dust were placed
in a hole. A hardwood stick was inserted, and by
rotating the stick rapidly a small smoldering fire
was generated."
- Dictionary of Prehistoric Indian Artifacts of the
American Southwest
(Franklin Barnett, 1973)